SC East Bengal opened their account in the ongoing edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) with a gritty goalless draw against Jamshedpur FC at the Tilak Maidan on Thursday.
Jamshedpur FC would feel unfortunate for not taking home three points as they missed several chances to score. East Bengal, on the other hand, were down to 10 men and would be proud to have earned their first cleansheet of the season.
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This is the first time that both sides have kept a clean sheet this season and while Jamshedpur also got a red card in stoppage time, they had more men on the pitch for much of the game after East Bengal’s Eugeneson Lyngdoh was sent off in the 25th minute.
Lyngdoh, who was starting a match for the first time since February 2019, got two yellow cards within five minutes. He was first booked for a challenge on Laldinliana Renthlei in the 21st minute before being booked in the 25th for a tackle on Alexandre Lima.
Jamshedpur dominated possession after that point but wayward shooting, coupled with some dogged defending from the East Bengal backline led by centre back Mohamed Irshad, kept them out. Jamshedpur took as many as 13 shots in the match and only three of them were on target.
East Bengal turned it around in the latter stages of the match, even having more of the ball and creating better chances to keep Jamshedpur on their toes.
It was in these dying minutes that Renthlei, who was already on a yellow card, was booked a second time and sent off for his challenge on Jacques Maghoma.